Gourt Home::Gourt :: Syngenta
| types of companies | Agribusiness |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Location | Basel, Switzerland |
| Key people | Martin Taylor, Chairman |
| Industry | Agriculture |
| Products | Seeds, crop protection products |
| Revenue | US$ 8.1 billion |
| Employees | 19,000 |
| Website | http://www.syngenta.com/en/index.aspx |
Syngenta AG is a world-leading agribusiness committed to sustainable agriculture through innovative research and technology. The company is a leader in crop protection, and ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in 2005 were approximately US$ 8.1 billion. Syngenta employs some 19,000 people in over 90 countries. Syngenta is listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SWX: SYNN) and in New York .
Products
Syngenta has eight product lines. The company develops, markets and sells these worldwide:
Crop Protection:
- Selective Herbicides
- Non-selective Herbicides
- Fungicides
- Insecticides
- Professional Products
Seeds:
- Field Crops
- Vegetables
- Flowers
In 2003, more than half of Syngenta sales came from selective herbicides and fungicides.
Key Syngenta brands include Actara, Amistar, Callisto, Cruiser, DualGold, NK, S&G, and Gramoxone. In 2004, Syngenta Seeds purchased the North American corn and soybean business of Advanta, as well as Garst and Golden Harvest.
Syngenta is publicly committed to sustainable agriculture. Alongside its own activities in this area, the company also finances the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. This non-profit organization supports sustainable food security projects in a number of countries. Development and marketing of pesticides and some genetically modified seed have made Syngenta a target of environmental and human safety activists. This is also true of its main competitors: Monsanto, BASF, Bayer and DuPont.
Board of directors
Syngenta is led by Chairman Martin Taylor. The other Directors are Peggy Bruzelius, Peter Doyle, Rupert Gasser, Pierre Landolt, Michael Pragnell (CEO), Pedro Reiser, Peter Thompson, Jacques Vincent, Rolf Watter, and Felix Weber.
History
Based in Basel, Switzerland, Syngenta was formed in 2000 by the merger of Novartis Agribusiness and Zeneca Agrochemicals. Its roots are considerably older.
In 1758 the city’s Johann Rudolf Geigy-Gemuseus began trading in “Materials, Chemicals, Dyes and Drugs of all kinds”. In 1876, Sandoz Laboratories began business in Basel, followed in 1884 by Ciba. These three companies ultimately became Novartis in 1995. Ciba-Geigy, formed in 1971, had concentrated mainly on crop protection in its agro division, Sandoz more on seeds.
Zeneca Agrochemicals was part of AstraZeneca, and formerly of Imperial Chemical Industries. ICI was formed in the UK in 1926. Two years later, work began at the Agricultural Research Station at Jealott’s Hill.
Syngenta has been responsible for preventing the publications of UC Berkley Professor Tyrone Hayes. Tyrone Hayes researched the herbicide Atrazine which he found to cause the delayed metamorphosis in frogs, thus preventing the tadpoles from developing into frogs. In addition, Atrazine has been proven to enter into our water supplies, and has the potential to cause hormonal imbalances in humans.
Legal Issues
Like other global chemical and biotech companies, Syngenta and its predecessor companies have been involved in numerous legal actions over the years. Syngenta has, for example, used the courts to defend its intellectual property and perceived right to free trade. Syngenta declares a policy of not exercising its patents in seeds and biotechnology in the least developed of developing countries.
In 2001, the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favor of Syngenta when the company filed suit against Bayer to protect its patent on a class of neonicotinoid insecticides. In 2002, Syngenta filed suit against Monsanto and a number of other companies claiming infringement of its US biotechnology patents covering transgenic corn and cotton. In 2004, the company again filed suit against Monsanto, claiming antitrust violations related to the US biotech corn seed market.
The Syngenta legal record also includes citations by regulators, NGOs, and individuals for health issues related to its products.
Following a series of fatalities due to accidental consumption in the 1960s, the company’s herbicide, Gramoxone® (Paraquat), gained notoriety in the 1970s and 80s due to a rash of suicides using the product. On review, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other regulators deemed the product safe. However, Syngenta added a blue dye, a foul odor, and a powerful vomit-inducer to Gramoxone to help prevent mistakes and misuse.
The company has also faced questions on its Galecron insecticide’s possible relationship to bladder cancer and other illnesses. Production of Galecron stopped between 1976 and 1978 for new safety assessments, and then halted permanently in 1988 after more research showed potential risk. The company was never found guilty of wrong-doing. In a 1995 class action in the US, Ciba-Geigy agreed to cover costs for employee health monitoring and treatment.
Syngenta recently opposed a Swiss ban on genetically modified organisms. *
Syngenta's herbicide atrazine, America's second most common weedkiller, was banned by the European Union as of 2005. Several problems have been noted with the chemical, including endocrine disruption potential cancer and gonadal effects in frogs that can lead to hermaphroditism. The EPA in the United States has upheld its use despite several sources of scientific criticism of it. Corporate lobbyist Jim Tozzi defended atrazine under the Data Quality Act, which has recently come under fire as a tool for corporations to prevent regulation due to information from scientific studies.*
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